TUPPER LAKE — Big Tupper Ski Area is closing, the volunteer group that has operated it for the last few years announced.

James M. LaValley, chairman of Adirondack Residents Intent on Saving Their Economyof Northern New York, blamed a lawsuit that attempts to kill the Adirondack Club and Resort as responsible for the closure.

“The board and membership of PROTECT and the Sierra Club should be ashamed at the way they have chosen to attack a community by using Article 78 lawsuits in a frivolous manner, and as a weapon against a project that was approved by the Adirondack Park Agency commissioners with a 10-1 vote after eight years of review,” Mr. LaValley said in a statement.

Even if ARISE were financially able to continue operating Big Tupper, Mr. LaValley estimated the organization would have to continue its work for three to six more years because of the on-going threat of lawsuits and the time it takes to resolve them.

“We cannot expect the volunteers to continue for that long, nor can we afford to,” he said.

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